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DECISION No. 30/2004/QD-BTC OF APRIL 6, 2004 PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL AND TEMPORARY IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL FOR RE-EXPORT

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to Customs Law No. 29/2001/QH10, which was passed on June 29, 2001 by the Xth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9th session;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 101/2001/ND-CP of December 31, 2001 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures and customs inspection and supervision regimes;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 77/2003/ND-CP of July 1, 2003 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision No. 187/2003/QD-TTg of September 15, 2003 promulgating the Regulation on management of petrol and oil business;

Pursuant to the Trade Minister's Decision No. 1752/2003/QD-BTM of December 15, 2003 promulgating the Regulation on dealing in temporary import of petrol and oil for re-export;

At the proposal of the General Director of Customs,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on customs procedures for import of petrol and oil and temporary import of petrol and oil for re-export.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. To repeal Circular No. 04/2001/TT-TCHQ of June 21, 2001 and Circular No. 08/2001/TT-TCHQ of October 26, 2001 of the General Department of Customs and other related regulations and guidance.

Article 3.- The General Director of Customs, the heads of units under the Ministry of Finance and the concerned organizations and individuals shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG

REGULATION ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL AND TEMPORARY IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL FOR RE-EXPORT

(Promulgated together with Decision No. 30/2004/QD-BTC of April 6, 2004 of the Minister of Finance)

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Petrol and oil which are imported or temporarily imported for re-export under this Regulation include engine petrol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, flight fuel (ZA1, TC1), hereinafter called petrol and oil for short.

2. Enterprises which possess petrol and oil import business licenses granted by the Ministry of Trade may import and temporarily import for re-export petrol and oil and can only re-export petrol and oil which were imported by themselves.

Enterprises having the function of supplying petrol and oil for aircraft and sea-going ships may sell petrol and oil for aircraft of Vietnamese airlines flying on international routes, foreign airlines' aircraft landing in Vietnam, foreign and Vietnamese sea-going ships running on international routes.

3. Petrol and oil imported or temporarily imported for re-export must go through customs procedures and be taxed according to law provisions. For re-exported petrol and oil, tax shall be reimbursed according to the actually re-exported volumes and categories.

4. For cases of purchasing petrol and oil from overseas for sale to the following subjects, they shall be also regarded as temporary import for re-export and subject to this Regulation:

- Enterprises in export-processing zones and export-processing enterprises in industrial parks and high-tech parks;

- Aircraft of Vietnamese airlines flying on international routes, foreign aircraft landing at Vietnamese airports;

- Foreign sea-going ships entering Vietnamese ports, Vietnamese sea-going ships setting off on international voyages.

Petrol and oil sold to the above-said subjects shall only be regarded as being re-exported if they were imported by the enterprises having import licenses.

5. Petrol and oil must not be transshipped or sold from ship to ship on the sea, except for the cases of supply for sea-going ships and transfer of imported petrol and oil from big ships which Vietnamese ports cannot accommodate to small ships. These cases must be decided by port authorities.

6. Customs procedures shall comply with the Government's Decree No. 101/2001/ND-CP of December 31, 2001 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures and customs inspection and supervision regimes, the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 26/2003/TT-BTC of April 1, 2003 and the Finance Minister's Decision No. 56/2003/QD-BTC of April 16, 2003 prescribing customs dossiers, customs procedures for goods exported or imported under purchase and sale contracts, and the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 32/2003/TT-BTC of April 16, 2003 guiding the implementation of Articles 29 and 30 of the Customs Law, Article 8 of the Government's Decree No. 101/2001/ND-CP of December 31, 2001 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures and customs inspection and supervision regimes.

6.1. Customs procedures for petrol and oil to be re-exported shall be carried out at the border-gate Customs Sub-Departments which have carried out the import procedures for such petrol or oil lots; or at the Customs Sub-Departments of the export border gates; or at the outside-of-border gate Customs Sub-Departments of the localities where exist the enterprises' inland depots of petrol and oil for re-export.

6.2. Petrol and oil may be pumped into depots or onto other means only after their customs declarations have been registered with the customs.

6.3. The goods volume of a re-export declaration must be wholly exported once via a single border gate (except for petrol and oil re-exported for aircraft under the guidance in Section IV below).

6.4. The Customs Sub-Departments which carry out procedures for temporarily imported petrol and oil lots shall liquidate the temporary import declarations of such lots.

6.5. Petrol and oil temporarily imported but not re-exported or not wholly re-exported may be sold in the country after all law-prescribed tax and financial obligations are fulfilled; after the expiry of their storage duration in Vietnam, the Customs Sub-Departments stated at Point 6.4 above shall be responsible for liquidating their temporary import declarations.

7. Cases where imported petrol and oil are on the list of commodities subject to State quality inspection but they do not yet have quality satisfaction certificates:

7.1. For imported petrol and oil:

7.1.1. If the enterprises' depots have empty tanks, petrol and oil shall be pumped into such tanks which shall be then sealed up by the customs; only after the certificates of satisfaction of quality requirements are presented, the customs offices shall decide on customs clearance and the enterprises may break the customs seals and use their petrol and oil.

7.1.2. If the enterprises' depots have no empty tanks and they pump petrol and oil into tanks already filled with petrol and oil of the same types. After the pumping, the customs shall seal up such tanks and wait for the quality inspection results. If the State agencies in charge of quality inspection certify that the imported petrol and oil fail to satisfy the quality requirements, the whole volumes of petrol and oil (both old and new) shall be handled according to law provisions. Enterprises shall bear full responsibility before law therefor.

7.2. For petrol and oil temporarily imported for re-export:

7.2.1. If petrol and oil are pumped into empty tanks, kept intact, and sealed up by the customs till they are re-exported, the State quality inspection shall not be required.

7.2.2. If petrol and oil are pumped into tanks already filled with commercial petrol and oil, the following conditions must be ensured:

- Temporarily imported petrol and oil and petrol and oil already contained in the tanks must be of the same categories.

- The State quality inspection must be conducted as for imported petrol and oil.

Where the State inspection agencies, after inspecting, determine that petrol and oil are not up to import quality, such petrol and oil shall be handled as prescribed at Point 7.1.2 above.

7.3. For petrol and oil transshipped at the localities permitted by competent State bodies, customs procedures shall be completed for customs clearance of such petrol and oil lots after the enterprises submit the written registrations of State quality inspection, containing the certifications of the inspecting agencies.

8. Determination of volumes:

8.1. Petrol and oil imported or temporarily imported, and petrol and oil re-exported by sea-going ships or river-going ships (on riverways to Cambodia): their volumes shall be determined on the basis of the expertise certificates of the expertising organizations having the function of expertising petrol and oil volumes.

8.2. For petrol and oil re-exported by tank trucks through land border gates: Their volumes shall be determined on the basis of the readings of the depots' meters used to gauge petrol and oil pumped into the trucks' tanks or the expertise certificates of the organizations having the function of expertising the volumes.

In places where there exists no expertising organization, the petrol and oil volumes shall be determined on the basis of benchmarks of the transport means, which have the certificates granted by the expertising agencies.

8.3. The petrol and oil volumes sold to export-processing enterprises shall be determined on the basis of the readings of the meters used to gauge petrol and oil pumped from the depots onto the transport means and petrol and oil pumped from the transport means into the tanks of the purchasing enterprises. If the purchasing enterprises' tanks have no meter, the petrol and oil volumes shall be determined by scale, benchmark, or other gauging device as prescribed by law.

8.4. Oil volumes supplied for sea-going ships are determined as follows:

8.4.1. Oil pumped directly from depots onto sea-going ships shall be determined on the basis of the readings of the meters of the depots.

8.4.2. Oil pumped from depots onto transport means shall be determined on the basis of the readings of the meters of the onshore depots. Oil pumped from transport means onto foreign sea-going ships shall be determined by one of the following methods: expertising, benchmark or meter, depending on the particular conditions of each ship and the practice applied to this goods.

8.5. Flight fuel sold for aircraft: On the basis of the readings of the flow meters of the filling means used exclusively for aircraft.

8.6. Volume meters must be inspected, certified and sealed up as well as periodically checked by the State standardization and metrology agencies according to law provisions (except for meters of aircraft and sea-going ships).

9. Determination of categories of re-exported petrol and oil:

9.1. Cases not subject to expertise:

- Petrol and oil re-exported from separate tanks with customs seals kept intact as when imported.

- Flight fuel (ZA1, TC1) re-exported for aircraft (for which the enterprises have written certifications and bear responsibility therefor before law).

- Diesel and fuel oil re-exported: The customs shall inspect the actual conditions of such diesel and fuel oil or inspect them with technical devices (hydrometer, test drugs or other testing devices as prescribed by law to determine the goods items.

9.2. Cases subject to expertise:

- Re-export cases other than those prescribed at Point 9.1. above.

- For cases of re-export by road, if no independent expertising organization exists in the localities, the enterprises' chemical test cards shall be accepted and the enterprises shall bear responsibility before law for their chemical test cards.

For petrol and oil taken from the same tanks under the supervision of customs, the expertise conducted to determine their categories shall be for the whole lots for re-export; the separate deter-mination for each transport means is not required.

10. For cases where there are expertise certificates of the organizations having the function of expertising the petrol and oil volumes and categories as prescribed at Points 8 and 9 above, if detecting signs of violation, the directors of the Customs Sub-Departments shall decide to inspect the actual conditions of such petrol and oil.

11. Certification of the actual export of re-exported petrol and oil:

When the goods have been actually exported through the border gates, the enterprises must submit the copies or duplicates of the bills of lading (B/L) or papers of equivalent value, then the customs shall certify the actual export in the export declarations, clearly stating the names and registration numbers of the transport means, the serial numbers and dates of the bills of lading; the hour and date of the actual export through the border gate, and the conditions of the seals. The competence to certify actual export shall be as prescribed in Decisions No. 56/2003/QD-BTC and No. 53/2003/QD-BTC of April 16 of the Minister of Finance.

12. The Customs Sub-Departments which carry out re-export procedures, immediately after completing the customs procedures for the transport means carrying the to be-re-exported petrol and oil, must notify in writing the Customs Sub-Departments of the export border gates of the departure date and hour of the means; characteristics of the means; the routes of operation of the means; and the petrol and oil names, volumes and categories, for coordinated supervision and management.

II. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORT AND TEMPORARY IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL

I. Customs dossiers:

1.1. Documents to be submitted:

- Customs declaration: 02 originals;

- Goods purchase contract: 01 copy;

- Bill of lading: 01 copy;

- Commercial invoice: 01 original;

- Petrol and oil import business license: 01 copy;

- Volume expertise certificate: 01 original;

- Notice or written registration of the result of State inspection of the quality of imports, issued by a State body in charge of quality (for types of petrol and oil on the list of goods subject to State quality inspection): 01 original.

1.2. Time limits for enterprises to submit their documents to the customs:

The enterprises must submit the above-said documents when coming to carry out the procedures for registering declarations at the customs offices, excluding the following documents:

- Volume expertise certificate: To be submitted within 8 working hours as from the time petrol and oil are wholly pumped from transport means into depots.

- Quality certificate: To be submitted within 5 working days as from the date of registration of declarations.

- Commercial invoice: If the original is not available, the enterprises must submit the fax (of the original) or telex within 5 working days, which must be signed for certification by the enterprises' directors or persons authorized by the enterprises' directors who shall bear responsibility before law for the accuracy and truthfulness of such fax or telex. In cases where plausible reasons can be given, the time limit for late submission shall not exceed 30 days as from the date of registration of customs declarations as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 of the Government's Decree No. 101/2001/ND-CP of December 31, 2001.

When registering declarations, on the grounds of unavailability of commercial invoices (original), the customs shall calculate taxes on the basis of the information declared by the enterprises themselves. When the enterprises submit commercial invoices (original), the customs shall check and compare them with the information stated in the declarations; if there is any change, the customs shall adjust the payable tax amounts according to law provisions, without imposing sanctions.

1.3. Documents to be produced:

Petrol and oil import business licenses (originals), granted by the Ministry of Trade, when it is so requested.

2. Responsibilities of the customs carrying out import procedures:

2.1. To strictly comply with the process of carrying out customs procedures as prescribed in Decision No. 56/2003/QD-BTC of June 14, 2003 of the Minister of Finance.

2.2. To seal up tanks after petrol and oil are completely pumped into (for the cases prescribed at Point 7, Section I).

2.3. To carry out re-export procedures for imported petrol and oil of unsatisfactory quality upon receiving the decisions forcing the re-export, issued by the State agencies in charge of inspection quality.

3. Responsibilities of goods owners:

3.1. To request the expertising organizations to expertise the volumes, quality and categories of petrol and oil.

3.2. To keep intact the customs seals of tanks filled with petrol and oil.

For petrol and oil on the list of goods subject to State quality inspection, for which the certificates that their quality is up to import standards, as prescribed at Point 7, Section I, are not yet available, when there are conclusions of the State agencies in charge of quality inspection, they shall be handled as follows:

- Where the inspecting agencies notify that the goods lots are up to import standards and the customs offices have decided on customs clearance, the goods owners may break the customs seals and use their petrol and oil.

-Where the State agencies in charge of quality inspection issue decisions to force the re-export of goods of unsatisfactory quality, the enterprises must continue to bear responsibility for keeping intact the customs seals to carry out re-export procedures and must carry out such procedures within the law-prescribed time limits.

III. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR RE-EXPORT OF PETROL AND OIL:

1. Customs dossiers:

1.1. Documents to be submitted:

- Customs declaration: 02 originals;

- Customs declaration of the temporarily imported goods lot: 01 copy;

- Sale contract: 01 copy;

- For cases of sale to foreign sea-going ships calling at Vietnamese ports and Vietnamese ships setting off on international voyages, the customs declarers must additionally submit:

+ The business registration certificate of the shipping enterprise: 01 copy (submitted for the first time only);

+ Purchase and sale contract between the enterprise permitted to import petrol and oil and the shipping enterprise: 01 copy (for enterprises with the shipping function);

+ Goods order of the ship master or the ship's company: 01 original or a fax with the certification of the enterprise's director;

- The written approval of the plan on import of petrol and oil in service of production and business, issued by the industrial park or export-processing zone managing board (for cases of sale of petrol and oil to enterprises in export-processing zones): 01 copy;

- Category expertise certificate (for the cases prescribed at Point 9.2, Section I): 01 original.

- Volume expertise certificate, for the cases prescribed at Points 8.1, 8.2, and 8.4, Section I: 01 original.

1.2. Documents to be produced:

- The written approval of the plan on import of petrol and oil in service of production and business, issued by the industrial park or export-processing zone management board, for cases of sale of petrol and oil to enterprises in export-processing zones: the original for comparison with the copy;

- Customs declaration of the temporarily-imported goods lot: the original for comparison with the copy.

2. Responsibilities of the customs carrying out re-export procedures:

2.1. To carry out customs procedures for goods lots to be re-exported strictly according to the provisions of Decision No. 56/2003/QD-BTC of June 14, 2003 of the Minister of Finance.

2.2. To check the outer conditions of petrol - or oil-containing tanks or compartments of transport means; if there is no doubt and there exist sufficient conditions for keeping customs seals intact, to permit the pumping of petrol and oil into such transport means; to oversee the pumping of petrol and oil into transport means. After the pumping completes, to seal up the tanks or compartments of the transport means.

For cases where volumes are determined by benchmark, the inner conditions of tanks must be checked before pumping.

Where goods are re-exported via road or riverway border gates, export-processing enterprises and the Customs Sub-Departments carrying out re-export procedures and the Customs Sub-Departments of export border gates must strictly comply with the provisions of the Finance Minister's Decision No. 53/2003/QD-BTC of June 14, 2003 on goods transported from one border gate to another.

2.3. To deduct the re-exported volumes of petrol and oil in the customs declarations and the industrial park or export-processing zone management boards' written approvals of plans on import of petrol and oil in service of production.

3. Responsibilities of export border-gate customs and export-processing zone customs:

3.1. In case of re-export via road or riverway border gates:

3.1.1. To receive customs dossiers sent by the Customs Sub-Departments having carried out re-export procedures.

3.1.2. To check the seals of compartments or tanks. If the seals remain intact, to supervise the re-export of goods to ensure that the goods lots must be wholly re-exported across the border.

3.1.3. If detecting that a seal is broken, a fake seal or there are signs of violation regarding changes in the petrol or oil volume, the export border-gate customs shall request the goods owner to have the goods volume and category expertised. If the expertising result is the same as compared with the dossier set, to make a written record of certification, seal up the goods lot, then carry out the procedures for the goods lot to be exported through the border gate. If the expertising result shows that there is any change in the goods volume and/or category, to make a written record of the violation and handle the violation according to law provisions.

3.1.4. To transfer the dossiers of goods lots to the Customs Sub-Departments carrying out re-export procedures strictly according to the regulations on goods transported from one border gate to another.

3.1.5. When the transport means carrying re-exported petrol and oil return for entry, the border-gate customs must check them according to regulations in order to detect smuggled goods or petrol or oil not wholly re-exported but brought back for domestic sale.

3.2. In case of re-export of petrol and oil to enterprises in export-processing zones:

3.2.1 The customs managing export-processing enterprises must perform the tasks defined at Points 3.1.1 and 3.1.3 above.

3.2.2 To supervise the pumping of petrol and oil into depots or tanks of export-processing enterprises, check and determine the volumes on the basis of the meter readings, calculate the total volumes, if detecting any violations, to handle them according to law provisions.

3.2.3. To keep for archival one re-export declaration (copy), to deduct the import quotas of export-processing enterprises.

3.3. Oil sold to sea-going ships in the form of supply: The border gate customs shall carry out customs procedures when the enterprises submit the declarations to the customs and conduct supervision until the oil is wholly delivered to the sea-going ships.

4. Responsibilities of goods owners:

4.1. To request expertising organizations to expertise the volumes, quality and categories of petrol and oil to be re-exported when expertise is required.

4.2. To keep their goods' customs seals intact and the customs dossiers in the process of transportation to the export border gates or export-processing enterprises.

IV. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR RE-EXPORT OF PETROL AND OIL FOR AIRCRAFT

1. Enterprises may apply the form of one-time registration of declarations for multiple exportation: Enterprises fill in one declaration form for all foreign airlines and one declaration form for all Vietnamese airlines. The validity duration of such declarations shall be as prescribed by law.

2. When delivering goods to aircraft, enterprises must submit or produce to the customs:

- Produce the registered customs declaration;

- Submit a sale invoice (or a delivery bill): 01 original;

- Submit the goods order of the aircraft captain or the airline: 01 original;

- The document showing the norm of the petrol and oil volumes for domestic flights: 01 original (for aircraft having domestic hops before exiting Vietnam).

3. After the goods is delivered to each aircraft, the customs must give certifications in the invoices and the goods orders, perform other tasks as prescribed for one-time registration of declarations.

4. In case of sale to Vietnamese aircraft on exit: Airlines must elaborate norms on the petrol and oil volumes used for domestic hops and take responsibility before law for these norms. On the basis of these norms, the customs shall give certifications of the actually re-exported petrol and oil volumes, calculated from the airports from which aircraft exit the country.

5. Liquidation of declarations: Customs and enterprises shall liquidate declarations by adding up the actually re-exported volumes of petrol and oil in invoices and monitoring cards, inscribe the results on the declarations and the sections for certification of actual re-export.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The directors of the provincial/municipal Customs Departments shall have to organize the implementation of this Decision. In the course of implementation, if detecting any loopholes or problems, they shall report them to the Ministry of Finance (through the General Department of Customs) for timely direction.

2. All acts of violating this Decision shall be handled according to current law provisions.

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG